Recap: "Erin's Little Miracle"

Sorry for the delay in posting the recap of Thursday's episode. The technical difficulties were finally resolved, so I (Ellie) woke up early this morning to finish it off before leaving for church.

Bringing Up Bates, "Erin's Little Miracle"

• As Carson's due date grows closer, Erin and Chad make the finishing touches on the nursery.
• Chad surprises Erin with a night away at The Oliver Hotel in downtown Knoxville. Erin is in shock as they walk into a beautiful hotel room and Chad presents her with a gift basket filled with her favorite things.
• "It's my job to make sure that, occasionally--at least every day--that she gets pampered somehow," says Chad, who takes his wife for a mani-pedi, something he is clueless about but knows Erin will love.
• Later that evening, Erin and Chad browse through furniture and decorations at a small vintage shop downtown. Chad works eight hours a day at a metal recycling company, but on the side, he enjoys refinishing furniture and hopes he can turn that hobby into a full-time job someday.
• Chad treats Erin to a romantic dinner and gives her a long, sentimental letter.
• Meanwhile, Michael and Brandon continue preparing for their wedding.
• Kelly's sister Kay, who is a baker, brings over different flavors of cakes for the bride and groom to sample. They choose strawberry and plan to do a small tiered cake for pictures and larger sheet cakes for the guests.
• Brandon suggests a white cake with cherry blossoms. (He and Michael got engaged in Washington D.C. when they cherry blossoms were in bloom, so that is the theme of their wedding.)
• Michael's bridesmaids are Erin, Tori, and Alyssa; Jana Duggar; and Angie, Becky, and Christy Keilen (Brandon's sisters). She is having Kelly as her maid of honor because her mother is her best friend and she doesn't want to have to choose between three sisters.
• The Bates ladies browse DaintyJewells.com for bridesmaid and flower girl dresses. Michael's plan is for the flower girls to wear the Dreaming in Vintage gown and the bridesmaids to wear the A Night in Paris gown.
• Tori, Carlin, Josie, and Katie head to a local thrift store with Judson and Jeb to buy baby outfits for Carson. “Jud and Jeb are a handful to handle in a public place,” says Gil.
• On the way home, the crew stops by to deliver the clothes to Erin, who is thrilled. She and Chad cannot wait to meet Carson. “Anytime I see baby clothes now, I get so excited,” says Erin.
• For several nights leading up to Carson’s birth, Carlin sleeps at Chad and Erin’s house because she wants to be there to support her sister and brother-in-law.
• Erin wakes up one night with painful contractions about five minutes apart. Dr. Vick instructs Chad to bring her to the hospital. While they are leaving the house, Erin’s water breaks, and her contractions become even more intense.
• As soon as Erin is checked into the hospital, she starts insisting on an epidural, but at that point, she is only 1 cm dialated.
• “The one consoling thought to me during the whole labor was, ‘I’m about to see Carson,’” says Erin.
• Kelly joins Erin and Chad in the delivery room, and Gil stands on the other side of the curtain, pacing and praying.
• “I think that was probably the most helpless I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” says Chad. “All I could do was hold her hand and just try to talk to her.
• About 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital, Erin stats screaming, “I’ve gotta push! I’ve gotta push!” Before long, she is 7 cm dialated, and Kelly tells her that it’s time to have the baby. “And at that point, I think I realaized that, ‘I don’t think I’m getting an epidural,’” she says.
• Carson arrives less than two hours after Erin’s water breaks. Both Chad and Erin cry tears of relief and joy. “I really can’t put it into words, to have something that we hoped for for so long,” says Chad, as he holds his son soon after delivery.
• “You guys, I thought I was going to die,” shares Erin, looking at her mom. “If you did that nineteen times…”
• After the delivery, Dr. Vick explains that Erin had a placenta abruption, which means the placenta lining had separated from the uterus. That was the reason she had such intense contractions. If Carson had not arrived so quickly, the Paines could have faced serious complications.
• “God worked it out,” says Chad. “God knew there wasn’t time for an epidural.”
• It isn’t long before several of the older Bates kids arrive to meet their nephew. Erin had told her mom that they could come as soon as she got an epidural, but of course that never happened.
• “Holding Carson was just literally overwhelming,” says Michael.
• “I’m just so grateful that God answered our prayers, and Carson’s here,” says Erin. “I can’t wait to see him grow up.”